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1923 


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The PAN AMERICAN UNION v 


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THE 


STORY OF THE 
BANANA 





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L. S. ROWE : : : : : Director General 

FRANCISCO J. YANES : : Assistant Director 


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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1923 

















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Compiled and edited by Philip K. Reynolds, 

Assistant to the President of the United Fruit Co. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

P ROBABLY few of the millions who enjoy the banana as a 
daily article of food ever stop to consider its origin or 
growth or the long and rapid present-day journey of this 
remarkable fruit from the tropical plantation to the 
consumer’s table. 

While the commerce in bananas is of comparatively recent growth, 
the plant has been cultivated and used from the earliest historical 
times. The bas-reliefs of the monuments of Assyria and Egypt 
show that the fruit was known and used in those lands in ancient 
times. When Alexander the Great invaded India he found large 
tracts of land in the lower valley of the Indus devoted to the 
cultivation of the fruit. 

The original home of the banana is believed to be India, at the foot 
of the Himalayas, where it has been cultivated since remotest 
antiquity. Its origin in the New World is as doubtful as the origin 
of the American Indian. Indigenous to Asia and Africa, where more 
than 60 distinct species of the genus are known, it is said to have been 
brought first to America from Spain early in the sixteenth century 
and planted in the Dominican Republic, 1 whence its spread was 
rapid throughout the surrounding islands and the mainland. This 
has never been authentically established, however, and some authori¬ 
ties include the banana among the articles that formed the base of 
the food supply of the Incas and the Aztecs before the arrival of 
the Spaniards. Certain it is that throughout the whole of tropical 
America there is a strong tradition that at least two species of the 
banana were cultivated long before the coming of the Europeans. 
Furthermore, it is singular that in all the languages indigenous to 
the regions where the banana appears the plant has a special name, 
not proceeding from the conquerors, as was the case with the names 
of many other plants, animals, and various articles introduced into 
America after its discovery. 

1 The modern name of the eastern 'paiTTofHispaniola. 


1 




























2 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


The first known importations of bananas into the United States 
were in the late sixties, when small quantities were brought to New 
Orleans by schooners from the Bay Islands off the coast of Spanish 
Honduras, and shipments on a very small scale were made by steamer 
to New York from Colon (within the present Panama Canal Zone). 
In 1870 a few bunches were brought into Boston from Jamaica by 
schooner. In the years immediately following further small quan¬ 
tities were brought by schooners from Jamaica and Cuba into Bos- 



FLOWER BUD A FEW DAYS AFTER EMERGING AT TOP OF TRUNK 
AND BEFORE ANY BRACTS HAVE FALLEN. 


ton, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In 1872 the first 
steamer shipment (250 bunches) was made from Colon to New 
Orleans, which resulted in flooding that market. About 1879 
bananas were first shipped from Costa Rica to New York by steamer. 
The fruit, even at this time, was looked upon as a curiosity, no one 
dreaming of its later becoming an important factor in the food supply 
of the United States. In the eighties, schooners generally gave way 
to steamers for carrying bananas, but it was not until the formation 
of the United Fruit Co. in 1899 that the banana industry really 
assumed large proportions. 




THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


3 


Bananas were first imported commercially in small quantities into 
England from Madeira in 1878 and from the Canary Islands in 1882, 
but were regarded as exotic rarities. In 1901 banana shipments by 
steamer from Jamaica to Great Britain were started by Elders <fe 
Fyffes (Ltd.). Although refrigerator ships were used the venture 
was not successful until the following year, when the United Fruit 
Co. began to supply that company with bananas from Jamaica and 
Costa Rica specially selected for the British market. 

The history of the banana trade is one of the romances of business. 
From small beginnings, hardly more than a generation ago, it has 
developed into an industry of great size and economic importance. 
Moreover, it is unique in its economic aspects since it involves a 
highly specialized system of production in widely separated tropical 
localities, the maintenance of adequate, expensive, and carefully con¬ 
trolled means of rail and water transportation, and highly organized 
distributing agencies in the countries to which the fruit is sent. 

PRINCIPAL SPECIES. 

The banana belongs to the family Musa and is one of the most 
important and interesting of all food products. Grown on an equal 
acreage, it will support a larger number of persons than wheat. 
There are many species of the plant, but the most important com¬ 
mercially are: First, Musa sapientum —Fruit of knowledge—deriving 
its name from the belief that the ancient sages of India reposed in the 
shade of the banana tree and refreshed themselves with the fruit 
thereof—formerly thought to be a distinct family, but now known to 
be a species which is found growing in the West Indies and on the 
American mainland from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capri¬ 
corn; second, Musa cavendishii (Chinese or dwarf variety), found in 
the Canary Island^, on the African mainland, in portions of Asia, and 
in the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans; and third, Musa para- 
disiaca —Fruit of paradise—deriving its name from the legend that 
the banana tree grew and flourished in the Garden of Eden and was 
the tree of the source of good and evil. This last variety is known 
as the plantain, which is found throughout all the regions named 
and which is eaten only when cooked. 

There are a number of varieties of the Musa sapientum , the most 
common being known as Gros Michel (“Great Michael”), which is 
the principal banana of commerce, and growls to the best advantage 
in low alluvial plains. In the ripening process, the skin of the Gros 
Michel assumes a beautiful yellow color. It is this particular variety 
which is dealt with throughout this booklet. Another variety of 
the Musa sapientum, is the “claret” or “red” hanana (deriving its 
name from the color of its skin), which is found in Central America 
and the West Indies. This banana is also known as Baracoa, Red 


4 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


Jamaica, and Red Spanish. In comparison with the Gros Michel, 
the bunch is smaller while the fruit itself is shorter but larger in 
diameter, giving it a somewhat stubby appearance. Although the 
red banana has a pleasant flavor, there is a very limited demand 
for it. 

There are also many varieties of the banana and plantain which 
have not been definitely assigned to one botanical species, as there 
appear to be all gradations between Musa sapientum, Musa para- 
disiaca, and other species. Thus we have the red banana mentioned 
above; the apple banana and the lady’s finger, both highly prized in 
tropical countries, but little known elsewhere; the apple plantain, 
India plantain, maiden plantain; golden banana; Congo banana, and 
many other varieties. 

There are in addition so-called ornamental bananas belonging to 
the genus Musa, some of which have fruits resembling the common 
banana, but which are not edible, and these species, such as Musa 
ensete and Musa coccinia, are valued only as ornamentals. The 
Manila hemp, Musa textilis, is in the same group, having small fruits 
somewhat like the ordinary banana filled with seeds, but valued 
only for the fiber in the stalk. 

Search is constantly being made for some variety of banana that 
will be superior to the Gros Michel in flavor, shipping and keeping 
qualities, and in abundance of production, but so far nothing has been 
found to excel the Gros Michel, and this variety still stands preemi¬ 
nent as the one best suited to the requirements of the American and 
European markets. 

The banana plant is a rapidly growing herbaceous perennial which 
contains in the aggregate about 85 per cent water. It is probably 
the largest terrestrial plant not having a woody stem above ground. 
The real trunk or main stem of the plant is underground, and is a 
thick, fleshy rootstock, known as a rhizome, on which large buds or 
“eyes” are developed, somewhat as the eyes develop on the potato. 
From the buds on this short, solid rhizome, or bulb root, the leaves 
grow upward, the first ones tightly rolled and sharply pointed. 
Growth takes place rapidly, new leaves pushing up through the 
center while the stalk increases in height until it is several yards above 
the ground. What seems to be the trunk of the young tree is in 
reality only a compact mass of leaf sheaths, spirally arranged and 
overlapping. As the plant develops in size, the older leaf sheaths 
are pushed outward by the young growing leaves within, and a 
smooth, shiny, strong pseudostem, or trunk, is formed. At the 
upper end of the “trunk” the leaves cease to clasp the stem and each 
one develops a true petiole or leaf stem. These petioles quickly 
develop into immense, bright green leaves, or fronds, and spread out 
or rise almost vertically, giving a very graceful, palmlike aspect to the 


THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


5 


whole plant. 1 he number of leaves so appearing varies from eight 
to twenty or more, according to the vigor of the plant and the soil 
conditions. These leaves are often of great size, attaining a length 
of from S to 12 feet and a width of 2 feet or even more. 

I lie trees vary much in size, those growing in the rich river bottoms 
along the Atlantic coast of Central America sometimes reaching a 
height of 40 feet, with a diameter of 18 to 24 inches. It is interesting 
to note, in comparison, that the average height of the banana tree 
in Jamaica is from 18 to 25 feet, and in Cuba from 12 to 18 feet, show¬ 
ing the effect of climatic conditions as we recede from the humid 
warmth of the torrid zone. 

As many buds or eyes are developed from a single rootstock, there 
eventually arises a little colony of plants from the same underground 
mother root, but in the course of time each plant develops a bulb of 
its own. 

As the individual plant approaches maturity, it produces a flower 
bud which later becomes a bunch of bananas. The stem which is 
to bear the fruit pushes up from the rhizome through the center of 
the leaf sheaths, until at the end of the ninth or tenth month after 
planting, the flower bud emerges at the top of the trunk, looking 
not unlike a huge ear of corn enveloped in its husks or bracts. As 
this flower bud increases in size, it bends over and downwards; the 
covering (or bracts) then drops off, disclosing the young bananas, 
quite small and pointing outward, but bending upward as they 
become larger. The terminal flower bud on the cluster is sterile and 
produces no fruit. 1 

THE FRUIT. 

Each plant developed to maturity from the rootstock bears but a 
single bunch of bananas, which is made up of so-called “hands” or 
clusters. These hands grow separately in spirals, each containing 
from 10 to 25 individual bananas or “fingers.” Commercially, 
bananas are classed as ranging from nine to six hands, any bunch 
having less than six hands not being readily marketable. The stand¬ 
ard commercial sized bunch has nine hands, all bunches with nine 
or more hands being classed as “nine hand” fruit. A nine hand 
bunch varies in weight according to the variety of the fruit and the 
soil and climatic conditions under which it is grown, the average 
weight ranging from 50 to 75 pounds. Occasionally a bunch of 
bananas is produced which has as many as 22 hands with more than 

1 The inflorescence is a terminal spike with floral leaves placed spirally, and sometimes magnificently 
colored; in the axils of each of these, several flowers are situated in two transverse rows (accessory buds); 
the lowest flowers are pistillate, the upper ones staminate, so that the fruit is found only in the lower region 
of the inflorescence, the remaining portion persisting as a naked axis after the bracts and flowers have 
fallen off, the inflorescence terminates in an ovoid bud, formed by the flowers which have not opened. 



6 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


300 individual bananas, weighing approximately 150 pounds, but this 
is extremely rare. 2 

The heaviest and the best developed fruit comes from Panama and 
the lightest fruit from Cuba, the difference being explained by the 
differences in the agricultural conditions, which, as we have seen 
above, similarly affect the size of the tree itself. 

One will readily appreciate the necessity for infinite care in handling 
a bunch of bananas when he pauses to consider that this fruit, which 
is cut from the tree in a green state, is, until fully ripe, practically a 
living organism drawing sustenance from its stalk, with sap flowing 
and tissues changing; that it generates heat within itself in the 
ripening process; that a few degrees of temperature above or below 
normal may stimulate too rapid ripening on the one hand, or pro¬ 
duce checked vitality and chill on the other; and that from the 
plantation to the ripening room it is shipped 11 loose, 7 ’ i. e., without 
box, crate, or wrapping of any kind. 3 * * * 

WHERE GROWN. 

Bananas are now cultivated in most tropical countries, where they 
constitute one of the principal foods. They can be grown in sub¬ 
tropical zones, but to produce the fruit to the best advantage a trop¬ 
ical climate and considerable rainfall are necessary. In addition to 
the immense production of bananas in Central and South America, 
the West Indies, and Mexico, they are grown (in some localities for 
export but chiefly for local consumption) in the tropical sections of 
Africa, Asia, and Australia where the rainfall is abundant; also in the 
Canary Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Philippine Islands, Malay Archi¬ 
pelago, Fiji Islands, and the various islands of the Pacific within the 

2 Commercial banana terms. —“Variety” indicates the country where produced and exported. For 
example: “Limons” are grown in the vicinity of Port Limon, Costa Rica. “Changuinolas” are grown 
in the Changuinola district of Panama, etc. 

Bananas are divided into classes based on the number of hands to each stem. 

(а) “Nines” are bunches of Dananas containing nine or more fully developed hands. 

(б) “Eights” are bunches of bananas containing eight fully developed hands. 

(c) “Sevens” are bunches of bananas containing seven fully developed hands. 

(i d ) “Sixes” are bunches of bananas containing six fully developed hands. 

“Stems” is a general term applied to bananas regardless of class and has exactly the same meaning as 
“bunches of bananas.” 

“ Grade” refers distinctly to the fullness of the fruit when cut and is expressed as follows: Three-quarter, 
full three-quarter, and full. Thin fruit, the fingers of which are not sufficiently filled out, is the exact 
opposite of full fruit. 

3 Canary and Hawaiian bananas are exceptions. Hawaiian bananas, which arc shipped in small quan¬ 
tities to San Francisco, are wrapped first in a layer of soft paper, usually newspapers, then in a padding 
of rice straw, with finally an outer covering of banana fibre or leaves, the bundle itself being tied securely 
with a heavy hemp cord. Each bunch is baled separately and the curved end of the stem is allowed to 
extend through the wrapping to facilitate handling. 

Canary bananas, which are shipped in limited quantities to British and Continental ports, are packed 
in strongly made wooden crates—the larger fruit one bunch to a crate, the smaller fruit two and some¬ 
times three bunches to a crate. The bottom of the crate is first covered with a layer of straw; then the 

bunch is wrapped in a large sheet of paper and carefully placed in the crate, which is thereupon stuffed 

with straw. In the last few years cylindrical leatherboard drums have been used to a considerable extent 

in the place of wooden crates. 




2 


68244—23 


A BANANA PLANTATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 








8 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


torrid zone. In certain localities where the soil is good but the rain¬ 
fall insufficient irrigation is practiced, but this is possible only where 
an abundant water supply is available, as the water requirement of 
the banana is enormous. 

Central America offers ideal conditions for banana cultivation. 
The main mountain backbone runs along the Pacific coast, the lesser 
ranges to the eastward, leaving wide slopes, river valleys, and lowlands 
on the Caribbean side. It is in this section, a few miles back from 
the coast, at an elevation of not more than 250 feet above sea level, 
with its hot days and humid nights and with an annual rainfall of 
from 80 to 200 inches, that the wilderness of tropical jungle has made 
way for the greatest fruit farms of the world. All within the past 
forty years an enormous agricultural industry, with its related inter¬ 
ests of railways, stores, docks, villages, and hospitals, has sprung up in 
a region formerly almost uninhabited. Central America may indeed 
thank the banana trade for by far the most progressive development 
and constructive influence which have ever reached its shores. 

SCOPE OF THE MODERN PLANTATION. 

The modern banana plantation is a marvel of system and immen¬ 
sity, all the more impressive because of its setting of primeval jungle. 
In the transformation within a few years from a wilderness of 
huge trees, palms, vines, ferns, and other tropical growth to a vast 
tract of cultivated land there is a succession of steps which can 
scarcely be contemplated by those familiar only with farming 
operations in the temperate zone. The surrounding country is first 
thoroughly explored as to its fitness for banana cultivation. Then 
comes the clearing away of forest and brush, the digging of the main 
draining ditches, the building of houses, railroads, and tramways, and 
the planting. Then follows the gradual development and extension 
until vast areas are pouring their product methodically and regularly 
into the holds of the ships at the loading ports. 

The personnel of a farm consists of an overseer or “mandador,” 
timekeeper, foremen, stockmen, and laborers. The land, when sur¬ 
veyed in the first instance, is laid out in sections of a size convenient 
for allotting the work and for keeping proper records of physical con¬ 
ditions, operating costs, and production from the time of planting. 
Aside from the necessary transportation, housing facilities, stores, 
and equipment, a supply of foodstuffs and merchandise must be made 
available at reasonable prices. Hospital treatment must also be 
provided in case of sickness or accident, and the general sanitary 
condition of the plantation and the welfare of its employees and 
laborers must be properly looked after in order to maintain an efficient 
organization. 


THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


9 


I lie quality and condition of the fruit and its prompt and careful 
handling are the all-important factors. To dispatch the modern type 
of refrigerator steamer at regular and frequent intervals, with a cargo 
of from 40,000 to 75,000 stems of prime, freshly cut fruit, requires a 
vast area of good producing land, connected with the tropical port by 
railways whose total length may extend into the hundreds of miles. 
The railways in turn are fed by a still more extensive system of light 
tram lines. The fruit in some instances is subject to a railway haul 
of 70 miles. The riding, work, and pack animals required on the 
farms run into thousands, and a small army of employees and 
laborers is constantly engaged. Each plantation must have good 
telephone communication with its district headquarters and with a 
central office for the prompt distribution of cutting advices, control 
of deliveries, and operation of the fruit trains. The central office in 
turn communicates by cable or radio with the head offices and with 
the ships en route, and every effort is made to have the arrival of the 
fruit and the steamer at loading port coincide, as well as to have the 
fruit after it is cut put aboard the ship in the briefest possible time. 
The whole system forms a most interesting example of organization 
and attention to detail. 

DEVELOPING THE NEW PLANTATION. 

The first and most important step is the selection of the land. 
Many factors must be considered, such as climate, soil, rainfall, drain¬ 
age, liability to damage by floods and hurricanes, and the feasibility 
of securing labor and supplying transportation. 

The plantation is developed from virgin land, covered, as a rule, 
with forest and a dense tropical undergrowth. After the land has 
been selected and the surveying and drainage ditches completed, it is 
underbrushed, lined, and staked, after which it is ready for planting. 
Underbrushing, as the name implies, consists in chopping down the 
undergrowth with cutlasses (“machets”) so that one may move 
about <freely between the trees. Lining and staking consists in care¬ 
fully laying out and marking the land with stakes set at the distance 
at which it is intended to plant the bananas, so that the young plan¬ 
tation will have regularity and orderliness. The distance between 
the stakes varies according to soil and climatic conditions. In Central 
America the planting distance is usually from 18 to 24 feet each way, 
and in Cuba land Jamaica, owing to the small growth of the tree, 
about|12|by|12/feet. As the plantation develops the underground 
rootstocks send up new suckers, or young plants, on all sides of the 
original plant. Only a few of these young plants are allowed to 
develop to maturity, but in an old plantation each hill, or mat, 
consists of from half a dozen to a dozen plants standing more or less 


10 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


closely in an area which may be several feet in diameter; thus the 
alignment of a young plantation is gradually lost and the rows become 
irregular. 

As the seeds of the banana are practically atrophied in the culti¬ 
vated varieties, the planting is done with a piece of rhizome or bulb- 
root, containing a bud or eye, very much as potatoes are planted. 
A shallow hole about 12 inches deep is dug at each stake and a section 
of the rhizome, with the eye toward the bottom, is placed in the hole 
and covered with earth. These portions of seed-bulbs or “bits 7 ’ 
weigh from three to four pounds each and are usually cut from 
rhizomes taken from adjacent vigorous cultivations. 

When digging bits for planting, care is taken to see that each has 
at least one good eye. Only the larger bits are used, as a small bit 
produces a weak plant and requires more time and labor to yield 
fruit. After the bits have been carried to the place where they are 
to be planted, they are again inspected, any with a bruised eye being 
rejected. 

With the completion of the planting and before the young plants 
have appeared above the surface of the ground, the felling of the larger 
trees is done, the dense tropical growth making this operation labori¬ 
ous and expensive. The tropical forest usually contains a large 
variety of trees, many of them of great size. It is not unusual to 
encounter giants of the jungle which requires considerable time for 
one man to chop down. Of these huge trees the Ceiba and the Guana- 
caste are the most frequently found. Where irrigation is necessary 
for the successful cultivation of bananas, the felling usually follows 
immediately after the underbrushing, and the whole mass is then 
burned, after which the land is lined, staked, and planted. 

After the felling, the future plantation is an almost impassable 
tangle of stumps and trees, with interlocked branches and matted 
vines. In fact, its aspect at this stage is one of a heavy forest shorn off 
at the ground and laid flat in a tangled mass. The felled land gives the 
impression that one is in the wake of some devastating agent instead 
of in the midst of a plantation in the making. Through this mass 
must be cut the right of way for railway lines, narrow-gauge tramways, 
and roads. This stage is a very critical one in the building of a plan¬ 
tation; in case of a drought many of the bulbs may not germinate, 
which necessitates replanting later on, or the felled timber may catch 
on fire, which is disastrous to the planting. On the other hand, in 
the event of heavy rains, the areas may become flooded, which is 
equally disastrous to the young plants. To the outsider it might 
appear that felling the forest trees on the newly planted ground would 
entirely destroy the young plants; this, however, is not the case. 
The felling is done before the bits have started to sprout, and even if 
a log crashes down on the top of one of these bits, the plant will usu- 




TYPICAL SCENES ON A BANANA PLANTATION 








12 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


ally grow up around the log and adjust itself to the situation. The 
enormous amount of logs, branches, leaves, and trash covers the 
ground like a mulch and instead of being destructive, actually estab¬ 
lishes the most favorable conditions possible for the growth of the 
young banana plants. The hot, humid atmosphere and the wealth 
of fungus and bacterial organisms cause the felled trees to undergo 
rapid decomposition. The twigs and smaller branches quickly rot, 
adding to the humus in the soil. The larger branches decay more 
slowly; the huge trunks may withstand this action for several years, 
and are sometimes burned to get them out of the way. 

About three months after planting, the plantation is ready for its 
first “ cleaning.” This consists in cutting down the smaller limbs 
and branches of the felled trees as well as chopping down the weeds 
and tropical growth that have sprung up, which, if left, would soon 
choke the young banana plants. From now on, at intervals of from 
three to four months, the plantation has to be cleaned. Through 
the various cleanings much of the original forest growth felled has 
been carried off or has decayed, although the stumps and logs of the 
larger trees may still remain. At each cleaning any failure of the 
original rhizome to come up, commonly termed “misses,” or any 
damage to the young plants by felling or ravages of animals has to 
be overcome by “supplying/’ i. e., replanting. This is usually done 
by using “suckers” (although “bits” are occasionally used) which 
are obtained from older fields and are, as previously described, young 
plants which have developed from the underground buds or eyes on 
the bulb or rootstock. By means of a sharp mattock they are cut 
cleanly off from the parent rootstock or “ mat ” and carefully removed 
so as not to break off the small roots. The green leaves are cut back, 
and the young plant is then set out in its place in the row and soon 
begins to take root and to send out new leaves. The success of the 
plantation depends in a great measure on the “stand” obtained from 
the original planting. 

A great deal of other work must be done simultaneously with or 
soon after the planting, in order to be prepared to handle the crop 
which begins to come in from twelve to fifteen months later. As 
the banana plantation is established on virgin land, the operations 
may be a few or many miles from any habitation. Kailway con¬ 
struction must follow closely behind the planting in order to bring 
in material and supplies for laborers and for construction. Quarters 
for employees and laborers have to be constructed, areas cleaned and 
pastures made for work animals, and tram lines laid down through¬ 
out the plantations as fast as the right of way can be cleared through 
the felled land. It is a race against time to accomplish all of this, 
in which the uncertainty of nature’s elements plays an important 
part. Owing to the heavy and irregular rainfall, both farm and con- 



BANANA PLANTATION SCENE IN COLOMBIA, 








14 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


struction work are continually interrupted. The most promising 
outlook may be turned into disaster overnight by a flood, and several 
months’ time and labor lost. 

On account of the soft, porous nature of the soil and the heavy 
precipitation, it has been found more economical and efficient to 
supply the plantations with a system of light tram lines, rather than 
to attempt to build wagon or cart roads on which to bring out the 
fruit. The distance which the bunches of fruit can be carried by 
men or packed on animals over such land is very short, especially 
during wet weather. This necessitates a vast network of tramwavs, 
with the lines only a few hundred yards apart, the cars in many cases 
being hauled by draft animals. 

After the primary construction period has passed, a large force 
of laborers is constantly required to keep down the rapid tropical 
growth and to give each section its cleaning and supplying at the 
proper time. Old drainage ditches have to be cleaned out and new 
ones dug. There are innumerable small bridges for the tramroads 
over the ditches and small creeks which require constant attention 
and repair, especially after each heavy rain, during which many of 
them are washed away. Part of this labor is also organized into 
cutting gangs for harvesting the fruit on cutting days. 

In addition to the labor involved in keeping in check the riotous 
tropical vegetation, the banana plantation must be ready for other 
emergencies. At times excessive rains cause the rivers to overflow 
their banks and change their course, which results in great damage 
to or total destruction of large banana areas, as well as heavy damage 
to the main roadbed and bridges. Occasionally a hurricane may 
sweep through a district, causing a total loss of the crop. Wind¬ 
storms of a velocity not exceeding 20 to 30 miles an hour often prove 
very destructive to banana plantations, especially to the trees bear¬ 
ing fruit ready for cutting, which, on account of the heavy weight of 
the bunches, are more apt to be blown down. Then again, a drought 
may occur which seriously retards or damages the fruit; also ravages 
of insect pests, such as locusts, must sometimes be combatted. All 
these and other conditions necessitate frequent revision of the esti¬ 
mate of the plantation output in order that ships of the proper 
carrying capacity may be supplied. 

HARVESTING THE BANANA. 

As previously stated, the trunk of the banana plant, or tree, as it 
is common^ called, is nothing more than a bundle of leaf-sheaths. 
Three or four weeks after the rhizome has been planted, the first leaf 
appears above the ground, and in the course of about twelve months 
the plant will have reached a height of from 20 to 40 feet, depending 
upon climatic conditions. Usually by the tenth or eleventh month 




TYPICAL SCENES IN THE BANANA FOREST. 

Upper- Bananas about to be clipped from the tree. Lower: Bunches of bananas having been placed 
alongside railway are now being loaded into ventilated cars for transportation to seaport. 





16 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


from the time of planting, the stem which is to bear the fruit has 
pushed itself up from the rhizome through the center of the stalk, 
and the blossom has “shot” or appeared in the center of the crown 
of the leaf-sheath. From three to five months are then required to 
develop a hunch of bananas ready for cutting, this fruition period 
varying considerably with the soil and climate. 

The banana is a very prolific reproducer, and after the first crop it 
is necessary to cut down many of the young plants or suckers in order 
that they may not become overcrowded. Up to a certain limit the 
fewer suckers allowed to grow from a single rhizome the more hands 
or clusters of fruit will be produced by the remaining trees originating 
from that root. Usually only from two to five of the most promising 
shoots are allowed to grow up to supply fruit later. This process of 
cutting away some of the shoots is termed pruning and is a work that 
requires skill and judgment to produce the best results. Therefore, 
as the plantation comes into bearing, there are always new shoots 
coming to maturity to replace those which have already borne fruit 
and have been cut down, so that after a time the production becomes 
practically continuous over a period of several years. There are 
certain areas where, as a result of a single planting, the trees have 
continued in production for twenty years. 

As fruit of various stages of development is coming on at the 
same time a practiced eye is required to select the bunches of proper 
grade to be cut for shipment. Cutting of the fruit in a given section 
is done once, and frequently twice, a week. A cutting “gang” 
usually consists of three men: The “cutter,” the “backer,” and 
the “muleman.” The “cutter” uses a long pole with a special 
knife attached to the end. He nicks the trunk of the tree a few 
feet below the bunch, and the weight of the bunch causes the trunk 
to weaken and bend where it has been cut. The top of the tree 
with its bunch of fruit is steadied by the pole to avoid its coming 
down with a rush and crushing the fruit. It is eased down until 
within reach of the “backer,” who receives the bunch on his shoulders 
and the “cutter” severs the bunch from the tree with a machete and 
cuts off the blossom end. The “backer” immediately carries the 
bunch on his shoulder to the nearest pack road or tram line, and the 
“cutter” then cuts down the tree itself near the ground, where it 
quickly rots, the decayed stalk forming humus which acts as a good 
fertilizer for the soil. The fruit is then carried out on pack animals 
or loaded on tramcars for transportation to the railway. In some 
instances, where the railway is very near, the bunch is “backed” 
right out to the track. In others it is first “ backed” a short distance, 
then packed on a mule, and finally loaded on tramcars. The pack 
by animals as well as the haul by trams is of varying distance, de¬ 
pending on the location of the land with respect to the railway and 



GLIMPSES OF COSTA RICA’S BANANA INDUSTRY. 



PLANTAIN FOREST IN NICARAGUA. 

The platano, known to the English-speaking world as the plantain, is the largest member of the 
banana family. The cultivation of bananas in Nicaragua is one of the most important sources 
of the country’s wealth. 








18 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


tram facilities. Pack and tram animals are employed on some 
farms, while on others small locomotives are used on the trams 
instead of animals on account of the long heavy hauls. 

TRANSPORTING THE FRUIT TO THE LOADING PORT. 

Upon arrival at the railroad two methods are employed in load¬ 
ing the fruit on railway cars, depending on the quantity of fruit 
assembled at one point, the location, and the track facilities. Where 
possible, the trams are run to sidings or spurs of the main line, and 
the fruit is passed from the tramcars to the waiting railway cars as 
fast as it comes out from the farm. In other cases the bunches are 
placed alongside the track on turf or wooden platforms and covered 
with leaves, to be loaded subsequently on fruit trains by loading 
gangs who travel with them. 

Definite loading orders are received in advance of the arrival of 
the steamship. In due course cutting orders are transmitted to the 
district headquarters, based on the carrying capacity of the ship, and 
the estimated quantity of fruit of the required grade and quality 
ready for cutting in each district. District headquarters distributes 
orders for the required amount among the farms and each farm over¬ 
seer in turn makes his allotment to the individual sections and to the 
cutters, and sees that everything is in order to start the cutting at 
daylight the following day. Rigid inspection is enforced by the farm 
overseer, foremen, selectors, and traveling inspectors, from the time 
the cutting commences until the fruit is loaded on railway cars. 

Special trains of empty banana cars are started out from the termi¬ 
nals as soon as cutting is well under way, each with its inspector and 
loading gang. These trains travel over the banana lines, receiving 
the fruit which has been placed alongside the track, picking up the 
cars loaded at sidings and assembling them at central points. As fast 
as sufficient loads are assembled they are forwarded to the port in 
trainloads of from twenty to forty cars. 

LOADING THE BANANA CARGO. 

The loading of the steamer begins immediately upon the arrival of 
the first fruit train at the port. The cutting orders and the schedule 
of the fruit trains are so arranged that a continuous flow of fruit to the 
loading port is insured. The loading of the steamship continues day 
and night without interruption until completed, cargoes of 75,000 
bunches being loaded in twelve to fifteen hours. 

At all the principal banana-loading ports, the cars of fruit are 
switched to the dock and the bananas carried to conveyors or loading 
machines, which take the bunches into the holds of the steamship. 
The fruit on its way from the cars to these loading machines is 



A banana stalk as it looked when freshly cut 
at 10 a. m. 


Same stalk showing the growth in the center 
20 minutes later. 




Stalk 8 hours after cutting. Identical stalk 31 hours after cutting. 

PHOTOGRAPHS ILLUSTRATING THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE BANANA PLANT- 



























20 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


again inspected and all damaged or defective bunches and bunches 
showing excessive fullness or the slightest yellow color are rejected 
on the wharf. Experienced gangs of laborers under direction of 
foremen receive the fruit in the holds of the steamship where it is 
carefully stowed in the various compartments and bins. These 
bins are constructed of wooden bars called “shifting boards/’ similar 
to the old farm gate, and prevent the fruit from rolling and becoming 
crushed. Each class of fruit, i. e., the nine, eight, seven, and six 
hand bunches, is usually stowed separately, and stowage plans are 
prepared, showing the location and quantity of the different classes, 
to facilitate the proper discharge of the cargo upon arrival. The 
bunches are stowed on end, resting on the larger end or butt of the 
stalk, in from one to four tiers or with one or more tiers standing 
and one or two tiers laid horizontally thereon. The interstices 
between bunches, between hands and stalks and between the fingers, 
form natural channels for the circulation of air. 

As the loading of each deck is completed, the delivery end of the 
conveyor is raised to the deck above. On completion of the loading 
of the top deck, the conveyor is removed, the hatches are put on, 
and if the vessel is a refrigerator ship the cooling of the cargo is 
begun. In the process of respiration bananas absorb oxygen and 
throw off carbon dioxide in large quantities and the problem is to 
carry fruit well ventilated within a narrow range of temperature. 
It is the rule to precool the holds of a refrigerator ship for a period 
of about 24 hours prior to loading, and when loaded to reduce in 
the briefest time possible the temperature of the fruit to the desired 
degree and to maintain it at that point. 

THE BANANA STEAMSHIP. 

To transport bananas with any degree of success, specially designed 
steamships are necessary. Both refrigerator and naturally venti¬ 
lated vessels are used in this trade, particular attention being given 
to the feature of ventilation and air circulation. 

The holds of a modern banana-carrying steamer are divided by 
several decks, which in turn are subdivided by vertical partitions 
into a number of compartments of a convenient size, the entire 
vessel being heavily insulated to prevent the transmission of heat. 
The fruit is cooled to the required temperature by refrigerating 
apparatus. The air is passed over brine coils, which cool and dry it, 
and is then circulated by fans through the fruit holds. Most people 
will be surprised to know that the refrigerating machinery used is 
much more powerful than is required for a steamer of similar capacity 
carrying frozen meat, although banana cargoes are carried at a much 
higher temperature. In the case of bananas, the refrigerating appa- 


THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


21 


ratus must contend with the heat generated by the respiration of 
the fruit itself. 

Naturally ventilated ships, which are generally used on the shorter 
mns, are equipped with large ventilators placed at convenient points 
to supply fresh air and draw out the stale air. These ventilators are 
manipulated by turning the large intake cowls to or from the 
direction of the wind. 

During the entire voyage the fruit is carefully inspected at regular 
intervals every few hours, day and night, and the temperatures of the 
fruit holds closely observed and recorded. In the winter season, 
while the ship is approaching the Northern Atlantic ports, it is some- 



BANANA UNLOADING MACHINES AT NEW ORLEANS. 


times necessary to use artificial heat in maintaining the desired 
temperature of the fruit. 

The voyage from the various banana shipping ports of Central 
America and Jamaica to New Orleans, Mobile, or Galveston consumes 
from three to a little over five days; and to Boston, New York, Phila¬ 
delphia, or Baltimore about seven or eight days, according to the dis¬ 
tance, route, and the speed of the vessel ; while the voyage to England 
consumes about fourteen days. On account of the longer ocean 
voyage the bananas shipped to the English market are of a thinner 
grade, i. e., less fully developed, than the fruit sent to the United 
States. 








22 


THE PA1ST AMERICAN UNION. 


DISCHARGING THE BANANA CARGO. 

The problem of discharging banana cargoes varies according to the 
local conditions which exist at the different ports. As soon as the 
ship reaches the home port and while she is approaching the wharf, 
the hatches are opened up, weather permitting, and the work of 
discharging the cargo begins immediately the vessel is made fast. 

When a cargo of bananas is being discharged the wharf presents a 
very busy and interesting scene. It is, however, an orderly operation 
under direction of the superintendents and stevedores, and a few 
minutes’ observation reveals the wonderful speed, accuracy, and 
sureness of a system evolved from long experience in the handling of 
banana cargoes. 

At New Orleans, Mobile, and Galveston the wharves are equipped 
with unloading machines, each having a capacity of 2,500 bunches an 
hour. The great booms of these machines are lowered deep into the 
holds of the ship and at the sound of the gong the wheels start 
whirring. Suddenly up come the big green bunches in the canvas 
pockets of the endless chain, then across and down to the wharf, to be 
turned out automatically onto horizontal belt conveyors. 

At New Orleans the wharf is also completely fitted with mechanical 
conveyors of elaborate and ingenious construction, which transport 
the bananas from the unloading machine to the door of the refrigera¬ 
tor car. In the case of Mobile and Galveston, however, the bunches 
are lifted from the horizontal belt conveyors to the shoulders of men 
who march in continuous ant-like lines to the aisles between the many 
rows of refrigerator cars and deliver the fruit at the car door. 
Inspectors are located one on each side of the delivery belt, and as 
each bunch reaches the point of discharge its destination is called 
out in accordance with its condition, quality, and classification. 

At the Eastern ports, i. e., Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
Baltimore, where the piers are not railway terminals, as is the case at 
New Orleans and the other Southern ports, the unloading of banana 
cargoes is done by hand. The men are placed on stages in the hatch¬ 
ways of the vessels and the fruit is passed up by them from one man 
to another and is taken out either through the side ports or through 
the deck hatches, as is most convenient. The ship is usually dis¬ 
charged on both sides simultaneously, the fruit being unloaded into 
drays or automobile trucks on the wharf and into railroad cars on 
floats on the offshore side. When loaded, the car floats are towed to 
the various railroad terminals where the cars are transferred to the 
land terminals by means of float bridges. At Boston a considerable 
portion of the fruit is trucked to the railroad yards and loaded 
directly into cars. 


THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


23 


Bananas are inspected and weighed at the seaboard by men spe¬ 
cially appointed or licensed to do this work. The inspection is very 
rigid and any fruit showing the slightest evidence of damage or 
degree of maturity which forecasts early ripening is rejected for 
interior shipment and sold locally. The fruit is carefully weighed after 
it is loaded in the railroad cars or drays, as the case may be, the cars 
and drays being first weighed empty and the tare recorded. 

All bunches are carefully counted with checking machines giving 
accurate count of the bunches as they pass through the car door (the 
machines used at New Orleans and Mobile working automatically), 
and the passport of the green bunch is thereafter the railroad bill of 
lading instead of the ship’s manifest. 

BANANA SHIPMENTS BY RAIL TO INTERIOR POINTS. 

After having been thoroughly inspected and equipped before being 
placed for loading, the cars, as previously stated, are weighed empty, 
and when loaded are again weighed. These cars are then made up 
into trains which are dispatched over the various roads on fast 
schedules. Caretakers, called banana messengers, travel through 
with the trains, inspecting, taking temperatures, and arranging the 
ventilating devices in transit; or resident messengers, who perform 
the same service, meet these trains at regular intervals in order to 
inspect the fruit and arrange the ventilation. The shipper’s office at 
seaboard and consignees are kept in close touch with the banana 
cars through telegraphic advices from messengers en route and resi¬ 
dent messengers and superintendents of fruit houses, and through 
this service many losses incident to transportation are avoided. 

The fruit is carried into widespread territory in refrigerator cars 
which, in most cases, are equipped with false floors or floor-racks, 
providing an air space of four to six inches in depth under the load. 
By cooperation between shippers and the various railroads and car 
lines, these refrigerator cars have been brought up to a high standard, 
although much experimental work is still being done to improve 
design and construction. The banana traffic is of great importance 
to the railroads of the United States, a very large proportion of the 
importations being transported by them. Usually the haul is long 
and in the opposite direction to the bulk of other railroad traffic. 

During the warm season the cars are refrigerated. Constant 
refrigeration in transit is obtained by initial icing at seaboard and 
reicing en route as needed. Large cakes of ice are used, and the ven¬ 
tilators of the car are carried open to some extent to provide the 
necessary amount of fresh outside air to preserve the vitality of 
the fruit and at the same time to prevent over-refrigeration near the 
floor of the car. Large cakes of ice present to the atmosphere less 
surface in proportion to the weight than crushed ice or small cakes, 



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THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


25 


therefore melting more slowly and producing a cooling effect over a 
longer period. Convenient icing stations are established by the rail¬ 
road companies at various divisional and junction points, and the 
cars are quickly iced in transit on advance notice given through 
the messenger service. 

In the winter season the banana cars are papered and more or less 
heavily strawed according to the weather conditions so that the tiers 
of firmly stowed hunches may be well fortified against the northern 
cold. At seaboard points during the winter months the cars are 
given an initial heating before they are loaded. At eastern sea¬ 
board points the cars are again heated after being loaded and before 
the cars are started on their way. For winter emergencies great 
fruit houses equipped with heating plants are placed at convenient 
points, the largest, located in southern Illinois, handling 72 cars at 
one time. If unusually cold weather prevails and produces lower 
temperatures in the cars than desired, they can thus be heated on 
the way to destination and the fruit warmed to the required degree. 
For the further protection of some of the shipments destined for the 
northern part of the United States and Canada, car heater stoves 
are provided by the railroad companies at convenient points. With 
these stoves the required temperature can be maintained during 
extremely cold weather and in emergency when trains are snowbound 
or otherwise delayed. 

The distribution of bananas throughout the United States is, 
generally speaking, as follows: The fruit imported through the Gulf 
ports is distributed all over the Southeast, south of the Ohio and 
Potomac Fivers, the Central West, and through the great territory 
lying west of the Mississippi River, including western Canada, while 
the fruit imported through the Atlantic ports is distributed mainly 
in the Eastern States, north of the Ohio and Potomac as far west 
as Columbus, Cleveland, and Detroit, the New England States, and 
eastern Canada. 

SELLING THE BANANA. 

The larger portion of the bananas imported is marketed through 
sales branches, located in all the important centers of the United 
States and Canada, which solicit and receive orders for the fruit from 
the jobbing trade in their territory. These orders are telegraphed 
or telephoned by the branches to headquarters at the seaboard for 
acceptance and are usually received before the cargo of bananas is 
discharged, although orders are taken at times for cars which have 
already been shipped from the seaboard. A large portion of the fruit 
arriving at Atlantic ports is sold locally by auction in truck lots. 
Bananas are sold to the jobbing trade on the weight basis and many 
retailers have now adopted the practice of selling by weight instead 
of by quantity. 


26 


THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 


HANDLING BY THE JOBBER. 

The successful banana jobber is on the lookout for his shipments, 
unloads them quickly, and devotes great care to the physical handling 
of the fruit in order to avoid scarring and bruising. When the rail¬ 
road car is unloaded at a distance from the banana rooms, the wagons 
or trucks which are used for transporting the fruit are provided with 
straw or hay. In case the car is placed at the jobber’s unloading 
platform, an overhead track with trolley hooks is frequently used to 
convey the bunches separately to the banana rooms. 

In winter, protection is given against chilling by thoroughly straw- 
ing the wagons in which bananas are transported, and by covering 
each load with blankets or tarpaulins. In most of the northern ter¬ 
ritory vans, somewhat resembling those used for carrying furniture, 
heated with small stoves, are used for unloading, and stoves are often 
placed in the cars. When the car is placed at the jobber’s unloading 
platform, canvas windshields are employed to protect the fruit while 
moving from the car door to the interior of the building. 

A part of the jobber’s distribution is represented in the shipment 
of single bunches of bananas by freight or express and special crates 
of various sizes and designs are manufactured and used for this pur¬ 
pose. The returnable crate is constructed of oak slats with a burlap 
bag suspended within and so tied to the structure that the bunch 
can not be bruised by contact with the outer frame. The nonreturn- 
able crate is made of light slats in which the bunch of bananas 
placed in a paper bag manufactured for the purpose is packed with 
hay or straw. The jobbers handling the smaller classes of fruit 
frequently use cylindrical cardboard drums strengthened with wooden 
bottoms and hoops. 

BANANA ROOMS. 

The care and ripening of the green fruit in the banana rooms of 
the jobber form an important link in the long chain of operations 
extending from the plantation to the retail distribution, and the pres¬ 
ent advanced type of banana room has been designed to simplify 
handling and to place the banana on the market as a matured 
product at its highest intrinsic value. 

The bunches are hung systematically in the banana rooms from 
ceiling hooks with proper spacing to permit the requisite air 
circulation and with a view to convenience in handling. 

As ripening is recognized as a vital phenomenon resulting from 
changes taking place within the cells of the fruit, it is necessary to 
have normal, wholesome conditions in the banana room. Provision 
is made for fresh air circulation and for the maintenance of the 
required degrees of humidity and temperature. The room is well 
insulated and fitted with special heating and refrigerating apparatus 


THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


27 


111 older to maintain an even temperature against exterior weather 
conditions. The heating appliance is so designed that the products 
of combustion are conveyed to the exterior. A gravity system of 
ventilation constantly supplies fresh air and removes the vitiated air 
resulting from respiration of the bananas, which increases rapidly 
during the ripening period. 

Bananas treated in a room of this description not only develop the 
color, firmness, flavor, and food value requisite in the matured prod¬ 
uct of highest quality, but the losses which ordinarily occur through 
shrinkage by evaporation and through over-ripening and decay are 
minimized. 

HANDLING BY THE RETAILER. 

The retailer’s approved practice is to hang the bunches of bananas 
where they will be readily seen, but subject to as even a temperature 
as possible and to a circulation of fresh air. In winter due care is 
taken to protect the fruit from draughts of cold air, and the bunches 
are covered with paper bags or wrappings in case the temperature is 
low at night. In severing the bananas from the stem a specially 
designed banana knife is used to avoid tearing the skin and exposing 
the pulp. This point of retail service should be always insisted upon 
by the purchaser. 

FOOD VALUE OF THE BANANA. 

In food value and flavor the banana easily takes its place at the 
head of the list of raw fruits. Moreover, it surpasses most of 
the vegetables in energy value and in tissue building elements. It is 
one of the few fruits which reach the highest perfection in food value 
and flavor when harvested green and allowed to ripen after being 
severed from the tree or plant. It is always cut green, even when 
consumed locally in the tropics, for the reason that if allowed to ripen 
on the plant it loses its delicious flavor and becomes insipid. The 
banana reaches the hands of the consumer in a germ-proof package, 
sealed by nature herself. No worm, blight, or insect sting affects 
the fruit pulp, for its glove-like skin protects it from contamination 
of all kinds. It costs less per pound the year round than most of 
the common native vegetables or fruits . 4 

4 Prof. Samuel C. Prescott, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the foremost authorities 
in the United States on foods and their relative nutritive values, in 1917 wrote as follows: 

“The banana to-day provides more actual food for the same cost than any other fresh fruit or vegetable, 
or fish, meat, milk, or eggs. The combination of banana with milk in proper proportion, or its utilization 
as a vegetable to supplement a diet containing a small amount of meat will produce a ration which is ample 
to take care of the body needs. Meats are essentially protein foods and as such are more adapted to the 
development of tissue than to the quick production of heat, while the banana, on the other hand, is less a 
tissue-forming substance, but is comparably more effective in supplying the heat-giving materials. In 
a crude way we might say that the proteins are the foods which make good the losses due to wear and tear 
in the machinery of the body, while the carbohydrates are the foods which keep the machinery in motion 
and do work. From this standpoint it is seen therefore that the banana because of its higher carbohydrate 
content along with a certain amount of protein, would be a more useful all-round food than a pure meat 
diet in which the amount of carbohydrate is nil.” 





A TROPICAL FRUIT VENDER. 

Above picture represents a typical vender of not only bananas but of other delicious fruits. At 
such fruit stands one is often able to purchase quantities of fruit at a very trilling cost. 







THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 


29 


A common mistake is made in eating the fruit before it is thor- 
ouglily ripe. The riper the fruit, the more wholesome and easily 
digested it is, as the starch in the green banana is converted gradually 
into sugar in the ripening process. The fact that the skin is yellow, 
however, does not necessarily mean that the banana is fully ripe. 
As a matter oi fact, the best state in which to eat the banana is when 
the ripening process is so far advanced that the skin begins to darken 
and becomes slightly discolored, for then the pulp is mellow, the 
sugar and flavor-giving compounds fully developed, and the fruit 
itself easily digested. When it is desired to ripen bananas they should 
be kept at a moderate temperature, but never in the ice chest, a 
mistake very frequently made, as, instead of hastening the ripening 
process the low temperature retards it and damages the fine flavor 
which develops with normal ripening. Ripe bananas, like other 
ripe fruits, are nutritious and especially good for growing children . 5 

While the banana can be prepared for the table in various ways, 
it is surprising to find that a vast number of people are amazed to 
learn that it can be served baked or fried, or cooked in many other 
ways. The American and European people are just beginning to 
appreciate the possibilities of the banana when cooked and served for 
daily consumption as a vegetable. 

The public, which has long regarded the banana as a luxury, is 
just awakening to its value as a daily food. Increased use both in 
its raw and cooked state will stimulate further production and so 
render stable an important factor in the world’s food supply. The 
continued development of the industry means an increase in the food 
supply of the countries importing bananas as well as an improvement 
in the commercial prosperity and living conditions of the countries 
from which they are exported. 


6 The following results of an analysis reported in 1906 by Atwater and Bryant, working under the auspices 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, show the average composition of the edible portion, i. e., 
without the skin or peel, of the apple, orange, potato, and banana: 



Water. 

Protein. 

Fat. 

Carbo¬ 

hydrate. 

Ash. 

Apple. 

84.6 

0.4 

0.5 

14.2 

0.3 

Orange . . 

86.9 

.8 

.2 

11.6 

.5 

Potato . 

78.3 

2.2 

.1 

18.4 

1.0 

Banana . 

75.3 

1.3 

.6 

22.0 

.8 







A glance at the above figures will make plain that the banana contains three times as much protein as 
the apple, nearly twice as much carbohydrate, and three times as much fat as the orange; also that it 
approximates closely the potato in analysis and exceeds it by about 20 per cent in its fuel or food value. 




















library of congress 



0 000 909 ill 7 


T HE PAN AMERICAN UNION is the inter¬ 
national organization and office maintained 
in Washington, D. C., by the twenty-one 
American Republics, as follows: Argentina, Bolivia, 
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Domini¬ 
can Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hon¬ 
duras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
Salvador, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 
It is devoted to the development of commerce, 
friendly intercourse, good understanding, and the 
preservation of peace among these countries. It is 
supported by quotas contributed by each country, 
based upon their population. Its affairs are ad¬ 
ministered by a Director General and Assistant 
Director, elected by and responsible to a Governing 
Board, which is composed of the Secretary of State 
of the United States and the diplomatic repre¬ 
sentatives in Washington of the other American 
Governments. These two executive officers are 
assisted by a staff of international experts, statis¬ 
ticians, commercial specialists, editors, translators, 
compilers, librarians, clerks, and stenographers. 
The Union publishes a Monthly Bulletin in English, 
Spanish, and Portuguese, which is a careful record 
of Pan American progress. It also publishes nu¬ 
merous special reports and descriptive pamphlets 
on various Pan American subjects of practical in¬ 
formation. Its library, the Columbus Memorial 
Library, contains 55,000 volumes, 200,000 index 
cards, and a large collection of maps. There is also 
a collection of 25,000 photographs, lantern slides, 
and negatives. The Union is housed in a beautiful 
building erected through the munificence of Andrew 
Carnegie and the contributions of the American 
Republics. 

















